Blindstitching sewing-machine.



Nb.774fi21. PATENTED NOV 8,190 G.F.FILOR.

BLINDSTITOHING SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8,1901.

NO MODEL. 3 SHEETS-SHEBT 2.

WITNESSES:

INVENTOR 04a 7/ FF/0r PATENTBD NOV. 8, 1904.

0. P. FILOR.

BLINDSTITCHING SEWING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1901.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

INVENTOR C/w r/es' fig/0i WITNESSES:

fly /2. J M llllIl UNITED STATES Patented November 8, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES F. FILOR, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE PER- FECTION BLIND AND LOCK STITCH SEWING MACHINE COMPANY, OF TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

, BLINDSTITCHING SEWING-MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 774,721, dated November 8, 1904.

Application filed July 8, 1901.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, CHARLES F. FILoR, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Trenton, in the county of Mercer and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Blindstitching Sewing-Machines, of Which the following is a specification.

My present invention relates to improve- IO ments in sewing-machines for effecting blindstitching.

The object of the invention is to provide means which may be applied to sewing-machines With little, if any, change in their construction, or other machines may be built in conjunction with the invention.

Other objects are simplicity of construction and efficiency of operation.

The improvements comprising my invention consist in particular of a spring-pressed Work-carrying lever fulcrumed in suitable bearings which are mounted on the bed of the machine, the said lever constituting a Work-carrying lever which normally has its bearing upon the feed-dog and is adapted to hold the material in any desired position during the process ofstitching. An adjustable cloth-plate is carried by said levers having notches on each of its four sides, the said notches being arranged in pairs on three sides of the plate and one side having a single notch, the plate being adapted for thick or thin material by moving it to or from the needle, asdesired, by means of cross-slots and an ad justing-screw. The position of the clothplate can also be varied to bring any desired side adjacent to the needle, each side of said plate being indexed to correspond with a similar index on the pitman-regulator. A kneelifter for raising said ork-carrying lever against the action of a retractile spring whose pressure-is adjustable, guides for the workcarrying lever to take up any loose motion relatively thereto, a stop for limiting the upward movement of said lever, and other details, as hereinafter set forth.

More generally, my invention consists of the combination of a Work-carrying lever Serial No. 67,422. (No model.)

mounted upon the bed of a machine and being adapted to hold the material while being stitched in any desired position in the path of the needle and down upon the feed-dog, a presser-foot and presser-bar, a needle and a needle-bar workingin combination with said work-carrying lever, and mcans for automatically raising the presser-foot and presser-bar directly from the needle-bar.

Figure 1 represents an elevation of the arm and head of a sewing-machine containing my invention with a section through its bed as on the line a 00 of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 shows a partial front view of the knee-operating device. Fig. 3 is a top View of the machine with a fragmentary portion of its table. Fig. A represents a vertical section through the head on the line 3/ y of Fig. 3, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 5 shows a partial section of Fig. 4 on the line a o. Fig. 6 is a top view of the adjustable cloth-plate, on an enlarged scale. Fig. 7 is a section on the line a of Fig. 6 with a portion of the Work-carrying lever. Fig. 8 represents a side elevation of the work-carrying lever and appurtenances with a fragmentary portion of the base of the machine. Fig. 9is a top View of Fig. 8 with a section through the presser-bar on the line 1; of Fig. 4. Fig. 10 is a partial section through the work-carrying lever on the line 2% of Fig. 8, showing the manner of mounting the said lever between the screw-centers. Fig. 11 represents a partial crosssection of the bed of the machine and its side Walls on the line .2 of Fig. 3 and the lever mechanism of the knee-operating device. Fig. 12 shows end elevations of the guide-clamps of the work-carryinglever.

Referring to the drawings, the arm of a sewing-machine is shown at A with its head a mounted on the bed B, which is connected to, a table B With the hinges B Under the bed B is secured an oscillating-shuttle mechanism B and the feed mechanism. On the bed B are bearings in which is fulcrumed the work-carrying lever C, operating between guide-brackets D D and raised by the rod E, which latter is actuated by the knee-lifter F. The upward movement of the lever C is controlled by the stud G with its adjustable jamnuts The stud M, with its spring m and ring-nut m, forces the lever with requisite pressure on the material while being sewed and keeps the same in contact with the feeddog H.

On the lever C is mounted the adjustable cloth-plate 1 with appropriate notches to allow the passage of the needle by the same when piercing the material for the various widths of stitches, the needle-bar being supported in a vibrating needle-bar frame J, which latter constitutes a guide for the needle-bar K, on which is secured the yoke K, which periodically engages the presser-bar spring-bracket Z and raises the presser-bar L against the tension of a spring Z on said bar, and thereby causes the foot Z of the presser-bar to be automatically raised from the material on the workcarrying lever O, and while the presser-foot Z is released from the material the feed-dog H,by means of its operating mechanism,moves the material around the said lever O in position for another stitch, and as the needle-bar descends the spring Z on the presser-bar forces the same down with the needle-bar, so that the presser-foot Z engages the material and holds the same down on the cloth-plate I, which is mounted on the lever C, while the needle passes through said material. It will be noted that the presser-foot Z does not hold the material down on the feed-dog H, but simply holds the material down on the clothplate I on the lever C while the needle passes through the same, after which the presserfoot Z" is again automatically raised with the needle-bar, and so on stitch by stitch, the lever C acting as a presser-foot to hold the material down upon the feed-dog.

Referring now to the details of my improvements, the work-carrying lever C (see Figs. 4L and 8 to 10) is fulcrumed on the adjustable center screws 0, supported on and threaded into the brackets 0 the jam-nuts 0 securing the said screws, and consequently the lever O, in different operative lateral positions. The lever O is curved up, as shown at 0", to allow proper clearance for the boss 0", into which the center screws project, and is beveled on its under side, as shown at 0, to allow the material to be easily fed under the same. On the under side of the lever O is a projection c at the point where said lever bears upon the feed-dog, the object being to keep the other portion of the lever clear of the bedplate. The bed-plate B also contains a depression (indicated by the lines 6 7), Figs. 3 and 4) to also allow proper clearance for the Work-carrying lever C.

On top of the lever O, directly in front of the needle, is mounted the adjustable clothplate I, (for details see Figs. 6 and 7,) with cross-slots in the center thereof, the top edges of the slots being beveled, as at i to allow a tightening-screw i to come flush with the top of said plate, so as not to interfere with the free passing of the material over the top of the same. The slots 5, with the said tightening-screw 6, allow the adjustment of the cloth-plate by varying the distance between the needle and the adjacent edge of the plate to accommodate the device for different thickness of material. This distance between the needle and the edge of the cloth-plate can also be varied by changing the position of the lever O by means of the adjusting center screws 0.

Notches are formed in the edges of the clothplate I to allow the free passage of the needle for various widths of stitches, and when it is desired to sew a straight seam without the vibrating effect of the needle-bar the side of cloth-plate with the single notch marked 0 is placed opposite the needle, and the needle-barframe pitman a is placed at its lowest point in the needle-bar-frame regulator (6 which is also marked 0. hen it is desired to sew a one-sixteenth, one-eighth, or three-sixteenths of an inch zigzag, the cloth-plate I is adjusted on the work-carrying lever O with the requisite notches opposite the needle, and the pitman a is adjusted in the regulator a to correspond with the index-mark on the side of the plate I neXt to the needle, and the vibration of the needle-bar will correspond with the notches in said plate. The pitman must always be secured in the regulator opposite the same figures as those indicated on the cloth plate at the notches adjacent to the needle.

On top of the bed-plate B the throat-plate N is secured in the usual manner, with the teeth of the feed-dog H extending through the same. The zigzag motion of the needle (for details see Figs. 4;, 5, and 9) is obtained by means of the vibrating needle-bar frame J, which swings on screw-centers J which are threaded and screwed into the head (a of the machine, jam-nuts 1' securing them inv proper operative position in the said head.

The needle-bar frame J is vibrated by means of the pitman a which connects the said frame with the regulator (0 the latter being actuated by a grooved cam, which in turn is actuated by a bevel-gear mounted on the shaft (4* in the ordinary way.

The needle-bar K reciprocates through the guides 71? in the needle-bar frame J and is supported by a link 7:" in the usual way, receiving from the said link its reciprocating movements. The presser-bar L actuates in front of the needle-bar frame J and is raised by the impinging of the projections of the yoke K, carried on the needle-bar, against the presser-bar spring-bracket Z which is secured on the presser-bar L. Between the projections of said yoke K and the spring-bracket Z is placed a washer Z, preferably of rawhide, the object being to prevent the yoke K from making a noise when it engages the presser- ICC IIO

bar spring-bracket l A spring Z surrounds the presser bar L and butts between the bracket Z and a cap-screw Z, threaded and screwed into the head a of the machine and through which the presser-bar L actuates. The action of the spring Z is to force the presser-bxr, with its foot Z down on the material. To allow the vibration of the needle when sewing a zigzag seam, the presser-foot Z is provided with a crosswise slot Z as well as the lengthwise slotl.

In Fig. 4: is shown the manner of placing the material around the work-carrying lever C, the arrows indicating the way the material is moved from the operator over the top of the lever C, on which is mounted the clothplate I around the edge of the same and under the said lever C, where the teeth of the feeddog H engage said material and feed the same toward the operator. The feed-dog H is connected to a vibrating lever P, swinging on journals 1), and the said feed-dog receives its movements from the shaft (i through a cam (0 which latter actuates the lever (0 which is fulcrumed at a and imparts its motion to the said feed-dog in the usual Way. It will be seen that the needle only partially penetrates the material as it passes around the edge of the cloth-plate I, the stitches being formed on the outward side of the material, and no stitches will show on the under side of said material which is next to the cloth-plate I. One of the guide-brackets, as D, has its hole cZ slotted to allow the adjustment of the said bracket against the side of the work-carrying lever C by means of the adjusting-screw (Z in order to prevent any lost motion in said lever. The rod E (which is used to raise the workcarrying lever C) is operated by the kneelit'ter F, which is journaled in the bracket F. The link 0 and chain 6 connect the rod E and knee-litter F, and by this means an operator can easily raise the work-carrying lever C by pressing the side of the knee against the kneeplate fof the knee-lifter F, the said knee-plate f being adjustable by means of the screw f To operate a sewing-machine containing my improvements, the machine should be in a normal position-that is, the needle-bar should be at its highest position. The needle-bar automatically raises the presser-ban' Consequently when the needle-bar is at its highest position the presser-bar is also at its highest point. It is not necessary for the operator to use the usual hand-lifter to raise the presserbar, although it can be used, it desired; but it in no way affects the automatic action of the presser-bar, whetherit is used or not. Assuming that the needle and presser bars are at their highest positions, the operator proceeds to adjust the cloth-plate I upon the work-carrying lever C to suit the thickness of the material to be stitched, and to make this adjustment the screw 2, which secured the clothplate I to the lever C, is loosened and the plate I is turned until the desired notches for the contemplated width of stitch, asindicated by the index, are adjacent to the needle. Then the pitman is adjusted in the regulator (1 on the mark indicating the same index as that on the side of the cloth-plate adjacent to the needle. A piece of the required material is then placed around the lever C in line with the needle. To place the material around the said lever, the operator bears the side of the knee against the knee-platef on the knee-lifter F and raises the lever C from the feed-dog H. The said lever will stop when raised to a predetermined height by coming in contact-with the jam-nuts g on the stud G. WVhen the lever 0 is in this position, there will be sufficient height between said lever C and the feeddog H and also between said lever C and the presser-foot Z to allow the material to be readily placed in position on the lever. When the material has been placed on the lever C, the knee is disengaged from the knee-plate f, and the spring M on the stud at will force the lever C down to its normal position. The operator now turns the machine until the needle comes down at the point of penetrating the material, and it can be. readily seen whether the needle will penetrate the material too deep or not. If the needle penetrates the material too deep, the screw 2' isloosened and the clothplate I is slightly moved from the needle, and if the needle does not penetrate the material deep enough the cloth-plate I is moved closer to the needle. Only a very slight adjustment of the cloth-plate is required when changing from thin to heavy material, and in material of ordinary thickness no adjustment whatever is required. In sewing material of a single thickness (which it is sometimes desired to do for fancy or ornamental stitching) the clothplate I should be adjusted so that the needle will only partially penetrate the material. and when it is desired to sew two thicknesses of material the adjustment can be made so that the needle will penetrate through one piece of the material and partially through the other,

thereby stitching the two pieces of material together and the stitches only showing on the one side. After placing the material on the lever (J, Fig. 4:, the machine is started in the usual manner, either by foot or power. hen stitching, the material will move from the operator over the top of the work-carrying lever C and the clothplate I around the edge o1 said cloth-plate, where it is penetrated by the needle and under said lever C, where it is engaged by the teeth of the feed-dog H and propelled toward the operator from the under side of the work -carrying lever C, (as shown and indicated by the arrows inFig. 4,) the operator guiding the material in the usual manner in the path of the needle. When the seam is finished, the op-v erator again places the side of the knee against the knee plate f, and thereby raises the work-carrying lever C to its predetermined highest position, care being taken to stop the machine with the needle-bar and presser-bar at their highest position, so that the material can be readily removed from the worlvcarrying lever and other material placed thereon in i the manner already described.

The improvements herein shown and described form a complete and practical blindstitching sewing-machine and one that can be run at a high rate of speed, that can be manufactured inexpensively, and that is simple in construction, easy to operate, and which is intended to overcome all the objectionable features which are found in the present machines of this class.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination in a blindstitching sewing-machine, of a reciprocating needle, feed' and operating in conjunction with said feeddog, and having a projection on the under side thereof, which acts as a presser-foot to hold the material down upon said feed-dog, the said lever extending to each side of the projection being flush with the same, whereby a supplementary support for the material to be worked upon is formed.

3. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with stitch-forming mechanism, including a needle and a feeding mechanism including a feed-dog, of a work-support comprising a work-carrying lever mounted upon the bed-plate of the machine, and fulcrumed in suitable bearings and adapted to hold the material to be stitched in the path of the needle and down upon the feed-dog, projections on said bed-plate, to act as guides for said lever which has a straight edge from its end to said guides.

4. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the

combination of a bed or table, and a springpressed work-carrying lever mounted upon said bed, adjustable screw center pivots, a presser-foot bearing upon said lever,said lever being fulcrumed between said pivots and extending straight from said pivots to beyond said presser-foot, substantially as, and for the purpose herein specified.

5. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a bed-plate, stitch-forming mechanism comprising a vibrating needle-bar, means for varying the extent of the vibrations, a spring-pressed work-carrying lever mounted upon said-bed-plate, an adjustable cloth-plate mounted upon said lever and having a cross-slot arranged in the center of said cloth-plate, a tightening-screw arranged in said cross-slot adapted to hold the said clothplate in a predetermined position upon said work-carrying lever, one edge of said clothplate having a single notch therein, the other three edges of said plate having pairs of notches arranged therein, each respective pair of said notches having an index-number, and the single notch having an index-number also for the purpose herein described.

6. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with a needle-bar, means for vibrating said needle-bar, and mechanism for changing the extent of the vibrations, a workcarrying lever, of an adjustable notched clothplate mounted upon said lever, said notches being spaced for the various widths of stitches provided for by the different vibrations of the needle-bar, substantially as described.

7. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a needle-bar, means for vibrating said needle-bar, mechanism for varying the extent of said vibrations, an adjustable cloth-plate with pairs of notches arranged on three sides thereof and one side having a single notch, and having a cross-slot arranged in the center of said plate, the same being adapted to be adjustable in conjunction with said needle-bar, said mechanism having indexed numbers thereon arranged to correspond with the index-numbers upon each side of said cloth-plate.

8. In a blindstitchingsewing-machine, the combination of a bed-plate, a spring-pressed work-carrying lever mounted upon the bedplate, and an adjustable needle-guiding clothplate mounted upon said lever, said lever being adapted to hold the material in a predetermined position in the path of the needle.

9. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a reciprocating dog, a Workcarrying lever mounted upon the bed of the machine, and a knee-operated mechanism arranged to engage the under side of said workcarrying lever to raise the same from the feeddog.

10. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a bed-plate, a spring-pressed work-carrying lever mounted upon the bedplate, adjustable screw center hearings, in which said lever is fulcrume l, guide-brackets mounted upon said bed, between which the said spring-pressed work-carrying lever is movable, the said brackets being adjustable to and from said work-carrying lever.

11. In a blindstitchingsewing-machine, the combination of a stationary arm, an adjustable cloth-plate, a device mounted upon said arm, said device being provided with indexnumbers, and said numbers corresponding with a similar index arranged upon the four sides of said adjustable cloth-plate, means for vibrating the device, a work-carrying lever for supporting said clothplate, which has notches in predetermined positions, and manual mechanism for changing the extent of the vibrations of said device.

12. In a blindstitchingsewing-machine, the combination with a feed-dog, of a knee-actuated mechanism, a spring-pressed work-carrying lever mounted upon the bed of said machine, and connected up with said knee-actuated mechanism, a stud secured in the bed and extending upward through said lever, jamnutsscrewed upon said stud for the purpose of limiting the upward movement of said Workcarrying lever, when the same is raised from the feed-dog by the action of said knee-operating mechanism.

13. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog for propelling the material to be stitched, and with the reciprocating needle and with the pitman and regulator for determining the lateral throw of said needle of means for holding the material in a predetermined position in the path of said needle and having sets of notches, the distance apart of the notches in said sets corresponding with the different lateral throws of said needle arranged for by said pitman and regulator, and said plate being adjustable to bring any set of notches in the path of said needle.

14:. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a work-carrying lever for the material pressing upon said feed-dog, around the edge of, and under, and above which the said material is moved, and an adjustable stop for limiting the upward motion of the lever.

15. In ablindstitchingsewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a lever for the material pressing upon said feed-dog, and around the edge of, and under, and above which the said material is moved, a reciprocating needle-bar, a presser foot and bar with the presser-foot bearing upon said lever, and a yoke connecting the needle-bar with the presser-foot bar.

16. In ablindstitchingsewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a lever for the material, pressing upon said feed-dog around the edge of which the material is moved, a reciprocating presser-foot bearing upon said lever, a reciprocating needle-bar and a yoke fixed to said needle-bar for lifting said presser-bar against the action of a spring.

17. Ina blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-d 0g, of a lever for the material, pressing upon said feed-dog and around the edge of which the material is moved, a reciprocating presser-foot bearing upon said lever, a reciprocating needle and needle-bar, a yoke with projections fixed to said needle-bar for lifting said presser-foot, the bar for said presser-foot carrying a bracket in the path of the projections of said yoke, an adjustable cap-screw above said presser-bar and a spring between said cap-screw and said bracket.

18. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a lever for the material pressing upon said feed-dog, a plate having notches on the edges thereof, and having a cross-shaped slot located centrally therein and aretaining-screw passing through said slot and into said lever. b

19. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a lever for the material pressing upon said feed-dog, a plate having notches on the edges thereof, cross-slots located centrally therein, and a screw passing through one of said slots and into said lever, the upper edges of the slots, and the lower edge of the screw-head being beveled for the purpose described of causing the top of the head to be flush with the top surface of said plate.

20. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination with the feed-dog, of a straight and flat lever, having a projection bearing upon said feed-dog, the bed of the machine having a depression under said lever.

, 21. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a Work-carrying lever for the material, pivots by which said lever is free to move up and down, a rod passing through the bed of the machine with its head under said lever, a bracket under the machine, a kneelifter, pivoted and connected up to said rod through a chain and lever and a stop adjustable to regulate the upward movement of said lever, a stud extending from the bed and passing through the lever, an adjustable nut on said stud and a spring between said lever and said nut.

22. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a needle-bar, a needle-bar frame, a lever a a cam for vibrating said lever, a pitman-regulator through which said frame is variably vibrated by said lever, an adjustable cloth-plate, indexed numbers for said regulator, so arranged as to correspond with a similar index arranged on the four sides of said plate, and a work-carrying lever supporting said plate.

23. In a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a needle, a spring-pressed work-carrying lever for the material, mounted upon the bed of the machine, an adjustable cloth-plate mounted upon said lever, and having crossed slots arranged through the center thereof, and adapted for adjustment to bring any predetermined edge of said cloth-plate next to the needle, and a tightening-screw in the slots.

24:. In a Work-carrying lever for a blindstitching sewing-machine, the combination of a needle, an adjustable square cloth plate mounted upon said lever and having pairs of notches arranged in three edges thereof, and said presser-footand said feed-dog, and means [0 one edge having a single notch therein for al: for automatically intermittently releasing the lowing the free passage of the needle. l pressure of said presser-foot.

25. Ina blindstitching sewing-machine, the In testimonywhereof I have hereunto subl combination of a feed-dog a spring-pressed I scribed my name this 2d day of July, 1901.

pivoted work-carrier pressing downward to- CHARLES F. FILOR. [L. s] ward said feed-dog, a presser-foot normally VVltnessesz a pressing downward onsaid work-carrier, said F. C. SPEOK,

carrier being located substantially between THos. B. MADDEN. 

